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Tag Archives | Podcasts

I joined the ranks of Carlos Mencia, Weird Al Yankovic, and Ronnie Milsap this week as a guest on Ice Cream Headache—The Podcast. The hosts, Brian and Murdock, “best buds who love indie rock, comedy and TV” are so cool they didn’t even tell me which originally scheduled guest cancelled on them.

Download Ice Cream Headache—The Podcast’s episode 49 on iTunes. “The guys get ready for the holidays and chat with travel/food writer Zach Everson about the art of the written word and why becoming a [Bruce] Springsteen super-fan was initially just an economic decision.”

We spent about 40 minutes in their studio chatting about stalking Pete Townshend (a smart move if you’re his would-be biographer), my getting stalked by Richard Marx (maybe), media theory (be provocative but without being a dick), the death penalty (abolish it), getting checks from Rupert Murdoch (cash them), Eater Louisville (read it), and what Jethro Tull does in concert that’s the apex of live rock and roll (listen to the podcast for that anecdote).

Last month my wife and I took our infant daughter on her first overnight trip when we drove to Milwaukee and Chicago. While the trip went well, traveling with a 2 month old was a different travel experience. Nevertheless, being a parent doesn’t mean the end to being able to travel–you just have to do a few things differently. Listen to the podcast for some pointers.

Last week Addison Schonland interviewed me for UpTake’s travel podcast (I blog about travel lodging for UpTake). The conversation covered a three-month backpacking trip I took a few years ago, which began in Dublin and ended up in a treehouse hostel on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.

The discussion–accompanied by a photo of me in my boxers, because sex sells–appears at UpTake: Backpacking through Europe. [Update Jan. 4, 2015: UpTake has been shuttered and, while the page where the interview was uploaded has been archived, the audio file itself is no longer available.]

While I’m politically active, this blog isn’t—if you want to read about politics you probably can find a few other websites that delve into the subject.

But anyone interested in online communications and social networking has to be paying attention to Barack Obama’s campaign: Nov. 4 will be the biggest test of the real-life power of that emerging technology.

The Obama campaign isn’t just using, but is distributing quality content via

Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing—Possibly the most amazing story I’ve encountered: An editor named Mignon Fogarty created a podcast about grammar and, as CNN describes in ‘Grammar Girl’ a quick and dirty success, it’s one of the most popular podcasts on iTunes. Who knew the masses wanted to learn about semicolons? (Obviously, I wish I had that foresight.) I’m curious as to how Fogarty promoted her podcast though; if she tires of editing, she probably could have a career in marketing. (Via Digg.)

City Paper Copy Editor Angry, Angry, Angry—DCist details a disgruntled copy editor’s diatribe directed at his superiors’ demand that he use a serial comma (the comma before “and” in a list of three or more items). I disagree with Andrew Beaujon and the Associated Press about not using the serial comma. Punctuation’s purpose is to clarify. The serial comma does just that.

Cliché Finder—I do agree with the Associated Press, however, about clichés; they stink worse than Limburger. To look for clichés in your writing, cut and paste your text into this website and it will highlight phrases that the Associated Press deems hackneyed. (Via Lifehacker.)

Yvonne Perry of Write On! Creative Writing Services interviewed me last month for her weekly Writer’s in the Sky Podcast. Well, she just released the podcast this week: TGI Friday December 22, 2006–Zach Everson. Consider it a Christmas present for the Internet.

In Part One of our interview we discuss how Zach started his writing and editing career from the proceeds of a real estate investment.

I’m starting a podcast for a different venture and realized I’ve neglected to mention one of my favorite podcasts here: The Word Nerds, “a weekly podcast about words, language, and why we say the things we do.” (It’s also available on iTunes.)

Dave Shepherd, Howard Shepherd, and Howard Chang do a great job of keeping an hour-long podcast about language interesting (which might not be too surprising as all three are high school teachers and have to captivate an audience for the same amount of time, numerous times a week, by themselves).